Lure of the Veela
by Quirkyfire
Summary: Draco Malfoy finds out that he contains a recessive gene of Veela blood, and Gabrielle Delacour has finally come of age. Veela blood makes the pairing for them, and both are taken along for the ride. Gabrielle D. X Draco M.
1. Chapter 1

_Inside the wizarding world, a pureblood is at the top of the pyramid, however, many will be surprised to find that most of these powerful witches and wizards have a small amount of Veela blood. Instead of being appalled at this mention of impurity of blood, most purebloods hold it in high regard. The reason is simple. Veela blood has enough magic to counteract all other nonmagical blood that might reside in the family line. This insures that no squibs are born into the family, and that most of these purebloods become as powerful as possible._

_Of course, as time goes on, the amount of Veela blood in the family dwindles, and becomes a recessive gene. The magic upholds and no squibs are born to the family, but the family loses its ability to perform the lure, and the bond between Veela mates becomes slightly feeble. The part veela also becomes unable to transform._

_As a Pure Veela turns seventeen, a transformation occurs. After this coming of age, the veela's body picks a soulmate by matching her own magical signature with another. The veela blood insures that the pairing compliments eachother perfectly. The veela may or may not have met their soulmate prior to their seventeenth year._

_Veela's naturally mate with other veela's or occasionally part veela's, as veela blood is naturally attracted to those of its own kind. It isn't uncommon for a veela to bond with another however._

_Once a veela's soulmate is revealed, the veela and its mate experience a shallow love for eachother, along with lust. The veela is also vulnerable when away from their mate for a long time, which is why it is necessary for the parents of the veela in question to find the mate as soon as possible._

_Most times the veela is able to find his or her own mate. The cris de cœur(French, literally 'cry from the heart.'), is a veela's keen, which can only be heard by his or her mate. The mate is compelled towards the veela, even though they may not have any idea of what is happening._

_For a veela, turning seventeen is also a somewhat painful experience. Before hand, the veela was sterile, to insure that illegitimate children could not be born. On their seventeenth birthday veela become completely fertile, and also develop the ability to transform, if they have a reasonable amount of Veela blood. They are also given the ability of using seductive magic. In ancient times, this was necessary at times in order to get their mate to reciprocate their love and initiate a life long bond._

_Part Veela's might not go through a Veela process unless they have a sufficient amount of Veela blood. Therefore it is very uncommon for wizarding pureblood families to have a Veela born to them because it has been many generations since a pureblood was bonded into the family._

- -

Draco woke up with a jolt and looked around him in bewilderment. A strange but soothing humming filled his ears. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary inside of his master room, so he flicked down the silky sheets and slipped lightly onto the floor. He padded to the balcony and looked out over the serene landscape of Malfoy manor. The sun had just risen enough to peek through the forest gardens surrounding the house.

The soft trill still filled his head, and his heart jumped into his throat.

'_What's happening?'_

Draco threw his summer robe over his shoulders and hurried out of his room to find his mother.

After the end of the war, Draco's father Lucius had been sent to Azkaban, which was a lot less worse with the dementors gone. Draco hoped to release him in a little less than three years, in which his father would be given another trial.

His mother had been pardoned after the Boy Who Lived vouched for her deciding the outcome of the war, and since she had no deathmark, she had gone back to her happy life in the manor and in the ministry.

Draco now worked in the Department of International Magical Cooperation as the head's direct attorney and assistant. He was 21 and regrettably, still resided in his parents home. Draco of course didn't mind. He had an entire wing to himself, and several new house elves to do his bidding.

Today was thankfully, a Sunday and Draco wasn't required in the office.

The Malfoy found his mother in her studio. Blonde strands slipped out of a messy knot at the base of her neck and smears of paint and clay decorated her feminine face. She glanced up at him when he entered the room before resuming the clay sculpture she had been molding with her hands.

"I had the Elves prepare your breakfast, its on the table over in the morning veranda." Narcissa spoke quickly as her son pecked her on the cheek. She smiled and gestured to the chair in front of her. "How was your night?"

Draco sat down easily and leaned onto his elbows as he tried to concentrate on what his mother was doing. His mind was falling apart as the song continued to play through his mind. His skin erupted in goosebumps as he felt he was forgetting something, and that he had to be somewhere. He looked uneasily at his mother and caught her eye. She stopped what she was doing.

"Are you alright?" Suddenly she was directly behind him, brushing his hair out of his eyes to feel his forehead, then down to his chest to feel his heartbeat. Her eyes widened. Before she could get anything out of her mouth, Draco began to speak in a hesitant voice.

"Somethings wrong- I, I feel all strange." Draco continued after a short pause, "Do you hear anything?"

Narcissa looked at him funny.

"What are you talking about?" She stepped back for a moment to give him a once over. He rolled his eyes and got to his feet and was headed towards the door in less then half a second.

"I need to go. I don't know where, but I need to go." With a flick of his wand, his sleep clothes were replaced with an expensively tailored robe along with a white cotton shirt that he quickly hiked to his elbows.

Narcissa focussed on the clear stretch of skin on his left arm. The dark mark had disappeared almost instantly after the Dark Lord was killed, showing that he indeed care even if only a little bit about his loyal death-eaters. The ministry absolutely hated the fact that they really couldn't arrest death-eaters simply for the mark anymore.

That fact helped Draco escape prosecution, even if it wasn't his choice to become part of the Dark lord's circle in the first place. Sadly, this wasn't the case with his father. As his wife she loved him with all her heart, and with the feeble but effective veela bond that both contained, she knew that he loved her just as much. If not more. Narcissa shook her head to get rid of her wandering thoughts and hurried after her son.

Instead of trying to talk to him, she simply followed him to gather as much information as she could. She's ask the family healer about it later. As for now, she was sure Draco would be fine. He relied on his instinct, and it was almost never wrong. This was definitely a plus when it came to working as an attorney.

She had followed Draco to his wing of the house where he was hastily packing a small amount of clothes and other things from around his room into a small trunk at the base of his bed.

"Mother, take care of my wing of the house. I have no idea how long I'll be gone."

Narcissa nodded. Recognition suddenly flashed through her eyes but was almost immediately replaced with doubt. _Could Draco be off to find his mate?_

Quickly, she ran through her mind trying to remember what she knew about the Veela recessive gene. In her family, it was about every seven or so generations that a somewhat strong blooded Veela was born. She grinned, that had been her. Which meant that Draco wouldn't contain much of the blood at all.

She pondered for a moment before remembering his father's side. The Malfoy's were considered one of the most pure families because they contained a large amount of veela blood, which resulted in the entire family having their gorgeously blond hair and similar looks.

Of course, they should have expected a veela son since they both contained a prominent gene. Narcissa concluded this just as Draco pushed past her into the hallway. For a few moments he clumsily carried the trunk down the hall before frustratingly flicking his wand and shrinking the trunk before slipping it into his pocket. Narcissa smiled. Her son was finally going to get bonded and start a family.

Draco saw this look and stared suspiciously at his mother for a moment before sweeping over to her and giving her a kiss on the cheek as a farewell.

Narcissa watched happily as he exited the manor and started across the lawn to apparate on the outskirts of the property.

- -

Fleur Delacour apparated in front of an intricate gate and opened it carefully before hurrying across towards a quaint white french cottage with a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

Her mother opened the door happily and they hugged before whispering excitedly to eachother as she ushered Fleur down the hall to a room on the end. Several Veela relatives lingered outside while Fleur danced into the room and towards her sister Gabrielle, who was standing next to the window in a stunning set of blue robes with a delicate pattern along the fitted sleeves.

"'Brielle! I cannot believe I 'ave missed it!" Fleur swooped down and kissed her little sister on both cheeks. "Seventeen!"

Gabrielle smiled lightly at her sister and turned back to the window.

"I'm nervous."

Fleur gushed at this, ruffled her sister's blonde hair and turned to look into her emerald eyes.

"You have nothing to worry about. Your mate will be a handsome prince who vill carry you off on a unicorn!"

Gabrielle laughed uneasily.

"Have you trilled?"

Gabrielle rolled her eyes.

"I can't exactly stop the '_cris de cœur_' until I see him."

"When Bill came for me, he didn't even know vut was happening. Mother had to explain it to him."

Gabrielle blushed. It was a hell of a lot to explain to someone that they now had a soulmate and everything that came along with it. Of course, someone could refuse a bond. But that would cause a whole lot of damage on both people. Not many would choose not to be bonded to her. Veela blood brought a lot of prestige upon families. But that didn't mean her mate would love her any more than the bond would require him to.

Her mate could be thrice her age with hair growing out of his ears. And to make it worse, she had no choice but to love him. Her veela blood made it impossible not to love her mate.

Not to mention, her veela blood also craved to be pregnant.

The entire ordeal was going to be worse than embarrassing, especially if the man had no idea what was going on, and she was forced to explain it to him. Or even worse, her mother tried to explain it to him.

The man would run away without a second thought. Not to mention the stare down he was going to receive when trying to get through the house to her. Practically all of her female cousins and aunts were here to celebrate her journey into adulthood, and threaten the man that she was to be bound to. Fleur seemed to understand what was going through her mind, and turned back towards the door.

"I will go get our relatives to leave. They can meet him at the wedding."

Gabrielle turned a deeper shade of red and looked out the window. Fleur might be a Veela, but she'd never be able to get everyone to leave. This was going to become a very humiliating first meeting if she didn't do something. She deftly pulled out her wand and locked the door before casting one last look at the expensive blue dress robes her mother had bought for her. She never had liked the color. With a twitch of her wand, the clothing transformed into the emerald color that matched her staggering eyes. Then she disapparated in a swirl of color and blonde hair.

- -

Draco was almost certainly going mad.

After leaving the house, he had apparated immediately to the ministry, thinking that perhaps he had forgotten to do something and that this was his subconscious getting back at him.

He had no luck. His boss had physically pushed him out of the office while mumbling something about Draco needing to get a life. Draco had glared at him.

So Draco had apparated to the top of a familiar hill. He came here when he was stressed, and the surrounding landscape had heard his agonized screams on multiple occasions. He sat down and contemplated the soft hum in his ears and the hearty pull in his chest. His fingers tugged on the grass next to him.

As he sat he considered what could possibly be happening to him. A spell perhaps? But no one could have entered the property without the consent of him or his mother, and his mother didn't seem to know anything about it. His thoughts wandered to that morning as wind tussled his hair. After the initial worry, his mother had become suspiciously quiet. Could she know something? Of course, if she hadn't told him, then she would want him to figure it out on his own. He'd get nothing out of her, if she knew anything at all.

At the end of an hour, Draco was an inch from breaking into tears. Something was missing! He needed something, and he was suffering from a mental breakdown as a result of it. He stood suddenly. Either his mother was going to tell him willingly, or he would force veritaserum down her throat and he would learn what was happening anyway.

With a spin, he vanished into the air.

- -

Narcissa had started her day almost immediately after Draco had left. He wouldn't guess what was taking place, and would probably come screaming back to her in a few hours. This gave her enough time to confirm his Veela blood, and hopefully, to find his mate.

She just needed to know. Lucius had found this insatiable curiosity irritating but endearing back when he was still with her. _Three years,_ Narcissa reminded herself sadly while slipping on a pair of high class earrings. Her robes were dark red and drew eyes to her impossibly thin waist. Veela blood really did have its perks. She smirked in the mirror before turning to a family tapestry to the left. She swung it away from the wall and disappeared behind it. Narcissa clicked down the spiraling stairs in her black heels. She reached the bottom and flicked her wand.

Candles burned into existence throughout the secret room. Blood red walls provided the backdrop to large cabinets and shelves hiding further secrets of the Malfoy family. Of course, another staircase paralleled the opposite wall. This room also led up to the dining room.

A maple carved desk sat against the wall between two bookshelves. She blinked back tears when she pictured her husband smiling back at her while leaning in the chair. She hadn't been down here since his arrest. She left its cleaning to the house elves, and tried not to think of its existence.

Trying to spend as little time in the room as possible, she hurried to a shelf and began scanning the rows of dark vials. Each marked with a new or fading label. Names were written neatly on each small flagon. Her eyes skimmed over her own name, and her husbands before finding her son.

She dusted off the cap and held it even to her face. The red liquid inside made her smile. Draco had given the biggest deal about having his blood drawn, even when it only required a wave of her wand. But now she had a use for one of the precious drops.

She could at least make sure he had enough veela blood to be a mate before rushing off to find his soul mate.

She set the vial on the desk and reached into a drawer for a piece of paper. With a wave of her wand, the paper was embossed with her own magic. Using her wand, she cut her finger and let a drop of blood fall onto the paper. With a green glow from her wand, her cut healed itself and she turned back to the paper indicator. The paper around the drop turned silver. She of course, had a good amount of veela blood. This perhaps explained her intense loyalty to her husband and son.

Next was Draco's blood. She uncapped the vial and tipped it enough for a drop to escape from the depths. She clasped her eyes closed as she recapped the bottle and took a deep breath before looking back at the paper.

The entire paper had turned a shining bright silver. Narcissa clapped her hands in surprise. That was only possible with veela who contained at least an eighth of veela in them. Her and Lucius must have some damn impressive recessive genes. She slipped the blood vial into her pocket and put everything back in place.

An hour later she was ready to start the hunt.

- -

A/N:Thanks for reading the first chapter. I know that this pairing is a little odd, and I'm sure I'll get a few flames, but the plot really does make it work, and no, I will not have them go fast. I absolutely hate it when other authors have two characters get it on after only a few chapters. Sure, their soul mates, but if you haven't noticed, Gabrielle is pretty stubborn. And so is Draco. There will be many obstacles before this pairing works out. Hopefully it will be an interesting story. I love reviews by the way. I spread them on my toast and eat them.

And if I don't get breakfast I get angry.

So review.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I am very sorry for how long this chapter took. I admit, I forgot about it. And people didn't seem to like it very much. Every once and a while, I would get an email saying, so and so has signed up to be alerted when a new chapter comes out, and I'd be like, oh, someone is reading it. And then I'd start writing, but I couldn't figure out how to write the second chapter. And I'm afraid it'll be boring or something. So I mixed in several new comic reliefs. See if you can spot them.

Ch. 2

Draco gritted his teeth with anger. His mother was not home, when she had specifically told him she would be. Had the world suddenly turned against him? A house elf squeaked to his left and he turned slowly to face it with an evil menacing glare.

"M-Mrs. Malfoy would like Kinky to give Master Draco t-this." The elves hands trembled as he brought out a large hard back leather book. He looked terrified before squeaking out a 'good day' and apparating to the kitchens.

Draco kicked at where the elf had been seconds before, and grumbled miserably while heading up to his room. Trying to ignore the attractive singing in his head. He flipped open the book breezily and skimmed the table of contents. His brooding thoughts stopped as his mind froze. This was the Black Family Grimoire.

Grimoires were family journals passed down from generation to generation. Only older families had them, and that wasn't widely known because these books were very well safeguarded. Draco hadn't even seen theirs, only heard that it would come into his possession with his inheritance. Ancient magic was passed down through these books. What reason did his mother have in revealing this to him? He held the book up to get a better look at the cover and flipped through a few pages before something fell into his lap. He leaped up in shock; anything that fell out of a dark(or not, he really wasn't sure) ancient magical book probably wasn't something he wanted to touch. He expected his bed to catch fire at the least and was perfectly surprised when nothing happened to the piece of floor the paper fluttered down to. As he glared down at what appeared to be a perfectly harmless scrap he heard a strange brushing noise from his window.

His owl hooted at him happily, obviously amused that he was sprawled on the ground in an attempt to flee from a small piece of parchment. He turned his glare onto his owl.

"What is it?" he growled at Knap. She was positively hooting in glee by this point. He really should have picked a male. She stuck her leg out as an after thought to his question and continued to hoot at him.

He climbed to his feet and over to the messy feathered bird.

"Seriously, you're a pure breed bird. Arrange your feathers so you don't look like some cockatoo got it?" Her feathers grew in strange directions which gave her the look that she had just flown into several things. Or maybe it was the other way around.

After being relieved of her letter, she flew sloppily into the room and perched tipsily on the side of Draco's bed; her wings open wide to both sides. She looked quizzical at Draco's annoyed stare and watched him open the letter and read it out loud to her, it was something he had always done with his owls.

"Oh god, its another letter from Pansy." He glanced over it, "Here it goes: Draco! You wouldn't believe how beautiful it is in Italy. Blaise's parents own a ridiculously big property, probably bigger than yours. I've decided to have the wedding here, Blaise wants it to be where he grew up. We've decided on you being the best man, and we want you to apparate here as soon as you've read this note. I don't care what you're doing. Hurry up, Pansy. Oh and by the way, your bird's a bit of a freak. Somehow got itself stuck to the wall when it got here." Draco glared at her "She means you Knap." He rolled his eyes as she fell backwards clumsily to collapse on his bed.

The humming continued in his head so he cautiously turned his attention to the piece of paper. After flipping it over cautiously with the tip of his wand, he read two words: page 213.

"Well. That was a bit anticlimactic." He recognized his mother's handwriting, and flipped to the page. _The Elusive Recessive Gene within the Black Family Tree._ Well that's interesting. Maybe he had some special powers. He skipped a few paragraphs until he found one that caught his eye.

_It is most probable that one in every seventh generation contain a stronger Veela gene, but even that is unlikely._ Draco's eyebrows furrowed. What did this have to do with anything?

He read the next sentence; _despite normal darker Black looks, Black veelas look remarkably similar to other pure veelas. This includes fair skin, white blond hair, and a startling shade of eyes._ This could not possibly be suggesting that he, himself, was a veela? He skipped a few pages this time.

_Average veelas and veelas within the black family tree normally seek their mates at age seventeen, depending on who is youngest within the pair. At this point they are bonded as mates, and then married._

"Hell No!"

--

Narcissa navigated through the halls of her old school lovingly, just being back at Beauxbatons made her itch for the old gossip, pranks, and backstabbing. She wasn't afraid to admit it, even before transferring to Hogwarts she was a slytherin through and through.

Now as she made her way to the Headmistresses office her mind was distracted from her task of finding out who Draco's mate really was. She had considered going to the ministry to find the list of seventeen year old veelas that might become part of the family, but thought going back to her old academy would be a little less conspicuous. And of course, since the place was untraceable, Draco would be a bit more annoyed with her absence; a fact that made her smirk as she finally threw open the door without knocking.

Her smirk fell off her face and was replaced with a grimace. Narcissa of course knew it was summer, but she had expected to find someone here. Taking it in stride, she easily found the drawer full of student descriptions. She propped her legs up on the dusty desk and began flicking through the files with perfectly manicured blood red nails.

--

Gabrielle regretted apparating to the Ministry almost immediately. Her dress made her stand out incredibly to the usual hustling workers. Some paused to stare and some of the looks she was getting weren't exactly flattering. Feeling self conscious she went back to trying to track her mate. If he met her family before hand, they would have no choice but to get married. At least this way, he could refuse and lead his life somewhat normally. Of course, being an unbonded veela would be a somewhat painful experience for her, and her mate, if he was part veela in the first place. Either way, she wanted to meet him under her own circumstances.

But finding him was proving to be truly difficult. She had definitely felt him here, which only encouraged her lingering fear that he might be an old perv who was head of an office or something. Now that she was here however, she knew, somehow, that he wasn't here either. -_It might have been easier to bring Fleur along in the first place. At least she knows what's going on.-_

Aimlessly, Gabrielle made her way to the bathroom, ready to transform her dress into something a bit more suitable for attempting to find her mate through the strange new senses she seemed to have developed. Then she spotted a swish of red hair she recognized quickly. Ginny, one of Gabrielle's long term friends, was flipping through a stack of papers while walking down the hall.

"Ginny!" Gabrielle cried, thankful that she was finally saved. Ginny was practical, and would know what to do. Of course, while looking sharply up the red-head managed to lose hold of the papers within her arms and they scattered messily to the floor. Gabrielle hurried over and helped her pick them up while explaining her situation. After the winded explanation, Ginny simply stared.

"So basically, you are trying to find your mate, who could be some ugly old guy with earwax dripping down his ears, before your mom does because she would ruin any chance of you settling down with this guy? And all of this was a genetic birthday present?" Ginny clarified, "Maybe you should just let your mom scare the guy off. He sounds awful."

"Well, I haven't met him yet. And Fleur got your brother, so it might work out for me." Gabrielle tried to stay positive, but Ginny's idea was definitely sounding better by the second.

"But he might be old and hairy, and you could spend the rest of your life rubbing magical cream on him to make sure that his skin doesn't fall off." Ginny raised an eyebrow at her, then was unable to hold back her laughter.

"Its not funny Ginny!" Gabrielle giggled with her anyway. After a bit more talk, Gabrielle got back to the point, "I need to find him. Perhaps Harry could-?"

"Harry's busy." Ginny looked a bit downcast before adding, "Well if you can just sense him, where is your future-whatever now?"

Gabrielle bit her lip while trying to concentrate. She felt a deep red, with a streak of orange. Well. That made no sense. She wondered what to tell Ginny, but at that moment Harry streaked through the hall where they were standing and grabbed Ginny around the middle before spinning her around; the papers once again went everywhere. Ginny didn't seem to care, she laughed happily before tiptoeing up to kiss him lightly.

"Lunch?" Harry asked her breathlessly, he was still panting from running through the ministry. Ginny smiled, and Gabrielle looked away. She didn't want to get her own expectations up, since romance wasn't likely in what seemed like an arranged marriage. She let the two whisper for a few seconds until Ginny turned back around and remembered that Gabrielle was there.

"Oh, Brielle." Ginny hugged her, "Everything will be fine. I'm going to lunch with Harry... You're welcome to come with us, if you'd like."

Gabrielle smiled as Harry mouthed, 'NO' in the background.

"I'll leave you two alone, but thanks for the offer. I'll just keep looking for-" Ginny had stopped listening, and Harry nodded his thanks. Gabrielle laughed, the two couldn't concentrate on anything but eachother when the other was around. She waved good bye, and they walked away.

She grimaced. There went that idea. Where could he possibly be? And what was up with the colors she was getting from him?

--

Narcissa was getting a bit irritated. You would think that the prestigious Beauxbatons Academy would be a bit more organized with their filing system, but no. Everything was everywhere, and nothing seemed to fit, and she hadn't found any list of any students so far, let alone ones that were specifically seventeen, in their seventh year.

She was getting pissed off fast, and the small office/filing room she had spent the last hour in was covered in papers. Narcissa had no idea what stuff she already had looked through, and what still needed to be gone through. In a stroke of irritation she twitched her wand upwards and and angry red sparks burst from the end.

"ACCIO LIST!!" she bellowed, thoroughly at the end of her already short rope.

A filing cabinet on her left burst open, and a file labeled 'Known Veela' flew into her fingers. Narcissa turned on her heel, effectively ripping a paper at her feet in half, and stormed from the room. Why hadn't she thought of that earlier?

Finding her way back to an empty common room, she carefully opened the file and began paging through names and descriptions. Most of them weren't of the age she was looking for, but on page eight she found the first seventeen year old.

It was a guy. Narcissa laughed, _wouldn't that be a twist?_ Of course, she had wondered if Draco was as fruity as his scented shampoo would suggest, and his obsession over hair was definitely something she had concerns about, along with his great sense of style, and his like of shopping. But Narcissa had already brought the subject up to several friends over tea, and they had laughed in her face.

According to them, Draco, the Slytherin prince, was quite a ladies man; and they had no doubts of his sexuality. Narcissa still wondered, and had asked him about it one night during dinner.

She was subtle about it. "Draco, would you be a dear and pass the filet, oh and also, I've been wondering lately, are you homosexual?"

He hadn't needed to answer. His face had colored, he had stood up from his plate of food and shouted at her from across the room. So he was straight, and was obviously a bit sensitive over being called otherwise. She smirked at the memory and went on.

After finding six veela girls who's birthdays were over the summer, Narcissa finally took the time to narrow it down a bit more. It was June currently, so that crossed out any July or August girls and left her with two candidates. Marie Turcotte and Gabrielle Delacour.

Narcissa grinned. Both names she recognized easily, as both were from prestigious pure veela families. They kept it that way by only allowing the males to marry other pure veelas. _Thank god Draco isn't gay._

--

Draco was pacing. Yet again. In fact he had been pacing almost all day. He had thrown a slight tantrum at the information he had been given, and had waited for his mother stubbornly for several hours. After calming down he had managed to -slowly- get through the rest of that awful chapter in the Black family grimoire. There was a very good chance, heck, it was evident; Draco was part veela. And the strange humming in his head, which had started giving him headaches after he learned what exactly it was, was his mate calling for him, the '_cris de cœur'_. And she wouldn't keep quiet.

Not even for a second. Draco was beginning to dislike her before even meeting the darn girl. She was obviously clingy, and needy, and she wouldn't just leave him alone to think!! Oh no, Draco was not planning on marrying this stupid pitiful girl. She reminded him of Pansy, back when she 'wanted' him. Draco shivered.

But the sound, the trill, was pulling him somewhere. He had nearly walked out of the house several times before realizing what he was doing. So now he was in his room, his door was locked, and he was not going anywhere. She would just have to live her life alone. _AND STOP IT WITH THE DAMN TRILLING!!_

Draco looked out his floor to ceiling windows. The sun was still a couple hours away from setting, but he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep until he found the girl and told her to shut up. Carefully, he picked up Knap from where the stupid owl had passed out on his bed and placed him in his cage. Draco smiled as Knap rearranged his feathers and hooted softly in his sleep. The owl had been awake all day which wasn't what the bird was used to, and so deserved some rest. Draco ran his fingers through the birds feathers and considered Pansy's note. He hadn't responded, which was probably her expectation, but it would be a perfect excuse for ditching the girl who was driving him mad. Draco looked thoughtful for a few seconds until Knap shot up and squawked at him, opening his eyes as wide as possible while simultaneously turning its head all the way around.

"SHIT!" Draco jumped in fear and then slipped from where he stood. He then glared up at Knap from his position on the floor, gave the bird the finger, and grabbed his broom which was propped up against the side of his balcony. He had perfected apparating with his broom, which indeed came in handy; especially whilst cheating at quidditch, but now suited his purposes equally well.

After flying to the edge of the Malfoy property he closed his eyes and felt pulled towards the west, along with a strange feeling of the color green. Draco ignored it. This girl was weird. Who was he to question it? A wind came from the same direction and ruffled his partially unbuttoned white shirt. After a few seconds Draco decided on simply apparating, and finding her through guessing and checking while sensing her between apparitions. He twirled in the air and disappeared.

--

Gabrielle had transfigured her green dress into her favorite tailored satin robes and had apparated back outside of the ministry. She had decided on stopping to look for the mystery guy altogether. Who cared about them being made for eachother? Gabrielle surely didn't, and she wasn't up to marrying some disgusting fat fifty-six year old. Hadn't she just graduated from a prestigious magical academy?

Gabrielle wanted to be independent, to pursue and excel in a career. Particularly healing. Her teachers said she had a very unusual knack for such a difficult form of magic. Unlike Durmstrang, Beauxbatons taught healing as a secondary transfiguration course. Gabrielle had been the only one to score an outstanding on the final NEWT.

That was it. She wasn't just going to give up and become a timid little housewife. Gabrielle would rather find some trophy husband and have him raise the children. _Children,_ Gabrielle shivered, she was not interested in becoming her mother. Perhaps in a few years but not currently and not until she had found the right man. Not that that would ever happen.

Gabrielle began turning to apparate back to her house, but stopped suddenly when she realized what would meet her there. Of course dealing with her mother was a different story.

--

Authors note:

Yes, meet Kinky, the house elf. That will not be the last of her. Even if she was only there for a sentence or two.

Also, meet Knap, Draco's psychotic owl. Notice that Draco really is attached to him, even though he manages to scare the piss out of Draco.

I really do appreciate reviews, and if you're too shy, and just put this story on alert, I understand.

But seriously, reviews remind me that this story is still here. And YOU, yes that is right, YOU reading this right now!! YES YOU! Sitting there thinking, 'yes, I get the point, she is talking specifically to me.' You are perfectly capable of writing 'thanks for updating'.

And if you are capable of reviewing, and don't do so:

I WILL FIND YOU.

And you will get to experience what jelly beans shoved up your nose feels like.

Thanks for reading either way though.

SM


	3. Chapter 3

Wow Yay! You better be excited cause I updated!! And guess why? Some random person reviewed a month or so ago and it got thrown in my spam and then I was emptying out my spam and then I found it and was like aww, I forgot about that story. And you've probably forgotten what it was about too since its been months.

So I suggest you skim through the last few chapters just to update yourself really quick, otherwise this will be confusing. Or I can tell you what happened last chap:

Draco comes home, his mom isn't there KINKY gives him that grimoire, he finds out he's part Veela. He gets a letter from Pansy wanting him to apparate to Italy immediately to help plan her and Blaise's wedding. Narcissa meanwhile is breaking into her old school, then finds out who's just turned seventeen so she can figure out who her little drakie is gonna marry. Meanwhile, Gabrielle is trying to find Draco and runs into Ginny and Harry at the ministry, and they kinda ditch her. Then Narcissa finally finds that list and goes on about how she thought Draco might be gay and how she had asked him about it. Meanwhile Draco is getting really irritated with the humming sound that is compelling him to find his mate. He finally gives up and goes to search for her. Gabrielle goes on about how she wants to be independent.... And that was the end of last chap. It might have been better if you went back to read it. And if you skipped all of this, you are going to feel so lost. Oh, and also, Gabrielle and Draco started that little connection last chap about how they kept feeling colors from eachother, like their feelings, only they haven't figured that out yet.

Now on with the show:

-Chapter 3-

It was beginning to get dark, and Draco finally felt the need to poof a warm robe across his shoulders. He had been apparating and disapparating for near on two hours and so far had no luck. He had forgotten entirely on abandoning the girl to go to Italy to help with Pansy's wedding plans and had been focussing on the odd 'connection' he felt.

The colors kept changing. At first it was green, and that had morphed into an angry red over to a somewhat dull grey. Draco pondered this while flying over parts of wizarding London on his broom. A slight breeze flew into his face and hair, it was messy after flying for so long, blonde strands casually framed his face.

Draco had accio-ed the Black Grimoire to himself a little over an hour previously, to research more about the trill. Only to find out that she wasn't really doing it. It was their 'bond'. And it wouldn't stop until he found her.

This meant no sleep. Draco glared harshly at the mansions below, this was tiring. And he had no want of being married to some random girl. Some little house wife. She'd probably be possessive and irritating, his mind imagined her in the kitchen asking, 'Its 6:03, I was worried, why didn't you call me? Now dinner's going to be cold. We had planned on 6 didn't we? Where were you? Was it work? Or is there something else?'

She would have a whiney nasal voice and greasy hair. Not fit to be the wife of a Malfoy. And what if she wasn't right for him? If she wasn't the one? Despite his passion for his career, he had always planned on actually falling in love one day. And now that wasn't going to happen.

Draco was frightened. And on top of all that he still couldn't find his mother. He had tried to apparate to her, but something prevented him. She was probably doing it on purpose.

Draco twirled his broom upside down and disapparated, this time only picturing his annoying girl and wherever she was.

-~***~-

Narcissa smiled when she arrived at the Delacour mansion, it was nightfall and stars fell against the background of the cottage. It appeared to be simple and elegant, but thanks to magic Narcissa figured that the place was much more expansive inside. A winding path lead up to a pearl handled gate that Narcissa happily grasped and turned carefully to the right.

She had already visited the Turcotte residence, their Veela daughter wouldn't turn seventeen for a week or so. Which meant that Gabrielle Delacour would soon be welcomed into the Malfoy family.

Narcissa could almost jump with delight. But she was sophisticated, so she repressed this urge, and instead regally made her way up to the door and rung the bell. There was something about the Delacour name that she recognized, but at the moment she couldn't recall exactly what that might be.

Despite the late hour, the door was answered immediately. Two beautiful veela faces beamed back at her, and after taking in Narcissa's veela blonde hair and stature, they took her by the hand and led her graciously into the house.

"I assume that you are here as the parent of my sister's mate?"

Narcissa recognized the girl who spoke as Fleur, the daughter of Camille, one of Narcissa's old Beauxbaton school mate's. With a laugh Narcissa nodded as an answer and realized that her son was going to marry the daughter of one of her old friends, no wonder she had remembered the Delacour name. She turned on her heel, and embraced Camille.

"Ironic? Isn't it?" Camille whispered into Narcissa's ear and the duo laughed together.

A hot tea later, and the two were talking as if they had never been separated.

"I thought that 'Delacour' sounded familiar, I always have a hard time keeping track of family surnames when I've known them before they were married." Narcissa explained, and the group around her laughed.

Narcissa had been clued in on how Gabrielle had wandered off, and that now the entire female side of the Delacour clan were currently waiting until the new mates found eachother. Narcissa swooned at the romance of it all, finally little Draco had someone to come home to. Perhaps she could now move out of the house and move back into one of the smaller Malfoy estates, the one in France was becoming more and more tempting with the Delacour family there. And Draco and Gabrielle could visit both families more easily.

Narcissa knew she was getting ahead of herself, but it was hard to stop.

-~***~-

All of the breath in Draco's lungs suddenly escaped him. The sight of this girl made it difficult to breath, and he found it hard to look away. She lay upon a bench at the corner of some street in Diagon alley. Draco didn't know or care where he was.

Time stilled, and he hovered a few yards above the cobblestone staring down at her. The only light was a flickering street lamp a short step behind her, and it made her hair glow. It was golden in the crisp summer air, and Draco slowly flew downwards through the warm night and touched down.

It appeared as though she was asleep, and when Draco stepped closer, he realized that she was. And she was dreaming. Draco felt colors in his mind, they spun circles in the web of her dreams.

Her face was heaven, her skin fair with long blonde eyelashes framing her closed eyelids. Draco knelt beside her, suddenly unsure of himself.

He could tell that this was her, the one, but now found that he missed the trilling in his mind. Quietly he hummed the tune that he had been following for hours.

She stirred with the sound and revealed shocking green eyes, these eyes met his own and the pair froze.

She sat up, and then they both stood simultaneously, only to find themselves an inch from eachother. Draco took a step back and spoke first.

"Who are you?" His voice sounded aggressive. Draco could have slapped his hand to his forehead, but the girl just laughed at him.

-~***~-

Gabrielle had woken with surprise when hearing something sweet that made her heart sing. It had stopped when she had finally opened her eyes, and then she was staring into a stunning handsome face very close to her own.

The man before her was attractive and tall, knelt before her as if she was something precious to behold. Amazement was clear in his gaze, and Gabrielle felt overwhelmed, especially after sitting up from where she had fallen asleep a half hour earlier. She had only meant to stop her search for a minute.

He was lean, with strength in his arms in legs she took to have come from playing quidditch. This idea was reinforced by the broomstick he held casually by his side. They both stood up, and the striking man took a step backward looking awkward as he did so. Gabrielle held back a grin. And then broke into laughter when abruptly asked who she was.

"Shouldn't I be the one with the questions? What right did you have standing over me like that?" Gabrielle teased him and he looked even more self-conscious. At that moment, Gabrielle realized that her mind was no longer trilling that outlandish tune, which meant that she had met her mate...

At once, she was the one blushing. The guy did look somewhat veela-esque, with his light features and striking face; hopefully that meant he had some inkling of what was going on. She really did not care to explain the whole mating thing to him in the middle of some dirty street in Diagon Alley. The entire situation was becoming more and more embarrassing as the seconds ticked by.

"Right. Point taken." Draco nodded to her and at once his signature smirk fell back onto his face. "Can I have your name?"

"Gabrielle Delacour, may I ask yours?" the formality felt heavy on her tongue, and the atmosphere of the conversation seemed to sag.

"Draco Malfoy. The pleasure is mine, may I call you Brielle?" She nodded at this, the Malfoy had guessed her nickname on the first try. "It seems as though I've been following you around all day. What exactly were you trying to accomplish? Apparating from place to place; was it necessary to make this more complicated then it already is?" He grinned down at her, laughing when she scowled.

"At least you didn't have to fight your way through an estrogen packed mansion in order to find me. I'm sure your face would have been redder then than it is now." Gabrielle taunted him, succeeding in darkening Draco's face just a shade more. Secretly Gabrielle rejoiced, thank Merlin she didn't need to describe what was happening. Draco took a moment to brush himself off, and then straightened out her own robes. She inhaled in surprise when he stood so close to her, smoothing out her clothing. He smelt naturally clean, like wintergreen, with a hint of smoke. It was intoxicating for a moment, but then he stepped away with a knowing smile pulling at his lips.

Ugh, he was an arrogant thing. But his disheveled hair threw the elegant look off, and made him seem a little more rebellious. A bad boy. But obviously rich, the fabric of his robe and the not-yet-released broom he held told her that much.

But she had told herself that she was gonna take this slow. No marriage for at least a year; which was unheard of for veela.

"So Brielle, are we to stand here all night? I'm sure both of our families anxious." Draco asked

"We should send for our parents, they're probably still up waiting for us." Gabrielle stared up at him, still slightly in wonder at who she was with. The Malfoy name wasn't lost on her. She knew Draco's title, he was next in line as Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation. And so young. In fact, she was fairly sure that he was voted one of the most eligible bachelors in Witch Weekly. She held the belief that in order for a relationship to work each person had to see the other as an equal, and those titles were hard for her to match.

So far he seemed to be a bit full of himself, and he seemed to live in sarcasm. And so did she. This would be a very tricky relationship.

-~***~-

Draco would bet his wand that Narcissa was already with the Delacours. He had acquired his cunning from her Black side of the family after all. But he had no idea where the captivating little veela lived. And he wasn't going to be the 'side along' when they apparated. Oh no.

But he still couldn't believe his luck. Brielle was certainly enchanting, and he wasn't just talking about her looks. She was witty enough to hold her own against him, at least for a little while. Not to mention he had always enjoyed French food. She would have to take over the meals once she moved in, and she would manage the house elves. The whole Veela magical signature mating thing really knew what it was doing. Now his mother could stop bugging him since he finally had found a little house wife to manage things. Speaking of Narcissa, how were they going to get to the Delacour's?

"There's an open floo at the Leaky Cauldron." Gabrielle seemed to have read his mind, and she knew it too. One of her eyebrows rose when he didn't respond, and after a few more seconds of silence, that Draco spent regarding her, she briskly turned and tapped down the street. "Come on."

He picked up the pace and linked his own arm with hers, escorting her to the Leaky Cauldron as she wasn't the only one that knew the way. Draco grinned, they were both rather competitive. He glanced at her to find that she was biting her lip and smiling. Her hair swished just over her shoulders and took on a golden hue as they passed below another gas lamp. Draco found himself staring at her, and he didn't necessarily want to stop.

-~***~-

Narcissa, Camille, Fleur and the rest jumped in surprise when a swoosh sounded from the fireplace behind them. Narcissa nearly spilt her entire cup of tea into her lap, but caught herself in time. She turned to the fireplace to find a beautiful blonde glancing around at everyone.

At once, the place was hectic. Fleur and her cousins flew over to the girl and hugged and kissed and lavished attention on who Narcissa now suspected was Gabrielle. This was when she spoke up.

"He'll be coming in a moment, everyone, give him space." For a second Gabrielle glared meaningfully at the girls around her and said, "Be nice."

The fireplace flashed green, and Narcissa beamed to find her son step out from underneath the marble mantle. All the cousins went quiet, and simultaneously glowered at him.

Draco kept his face blank while looking around at all the girls glaring at him, he caught his mothers eyes. Looking slightly reassured, Draco edged closer to Gabrielle as finally the cousins and aunts stopped ogling him and broke into chatter amongst themselves. But he still looked out of his element when introductions began. An international magic scandal would have been easier for Draco to deal with, Narcissa laughed to herself.

A/N: Okay. I hope you liked it, I know the voice was different since this was a more serious chapter than the last. I promise that in the next one more hilarity will ensue.

So. You know how I am about reviews. You should write them. And please give me a few ideas, I'm planning on Pansy writing another letter telling Draco to get over to Italy, and then him bringing Gabrielle along. Its an excuse for them to get to know eachother better. Is that a good idea? Oh and I'm open to criticism as long as it gives me ideas for future chapters.

And want to know what I'll do if you don't review?

I will sick Kinky on you.

MUAHAHA.

-Aimee


	4. Chapter 4

Hey Guys! I updated yay!!

I have a quick author's note at the bottom, if you're interested. After you've read of course.

-Chapter 4-

Draco had no idea what he had gotten himself into. The Grimoire had barely scraped the surface. He and his mother had returned home very late the previous night, but his mother seemed to be in sheer bliss. Apparently, his 'mate', the word felt foreign on his tongue, had been born to his mother's old friend from Beauxbatons Academy. All of the, Draco grimaced, female relatives, had been sent home a little after they arrived, and both of their mothers had talked for AGES.

And it was embarrassing. Draco knew he was going to get married to the girl, but they had been to the point of deciding what kind of napkins to have at the wedding. NAPKINS! Draco said the word aloud in frustration. A soft hoot surprised him in response.

Draco turned over in his bed, there, Knap, his owl, clung to the window-sill. Upside down.

With shocking dexterity, I mean, this was Knap we are talking about, the bird let go of the sill and dived the two feet to the floor before soaring upwards to land on the bed. Triumphantly, the bird handed a letter to Draco.

It was red.

And burned his hand slightly before erupting into flames, simultaneously Pansy's high-pitched voice rang through the room. Draco covered his ears in annoyance. He had almost forgotten.

"YOU PRAT! WHY AREN'T YOU HERE YET? THE WEDDINGS IN LESS THAN A MONTH! THREE WEEKS!!" Draco sat up in bed slowly, pushing his silk sheets aside once more. Pansy seemed to calm down as she continued.

"Blaise and I wanted to have it in June, as his parents and my own both got married in June, but of course, we weren't willing to wait until next year, but then again, you know how elaborate pureblood weddings tend to be, and we certainly need more time to prepare, and with you as the best man, you certainly need to be here right away. And don't even mention work to me. You've worked straight out of hogwarts and its been four years. Request an entire month off. And quit if they say no. You have enough money anyway."

At this Draco smirked, flicking his hair out of his eyes as he got up to dress. The howler, or not so much howler as Pansy had seemed to record most of it in her regular voice, continued on.

"We have so much planning to do! *sigh* ... I'm actually quite concerned that I haven't heard from you yet. I hope nothing drastic has happened. But knowing how drama seems to find you and follow you around..."

She broke off for a moment and seemed to be talking to Blaise, her voice sounded very faint, and quite suddenly he heard very loud laughter.

The noise made him jump and sprawl to the ground as he had just been in the process of putting on his custom tailored black slacks. He got up angrily as Blaise's voice suddenly boomed into his room. Blaise seemed to understand how a howler was supposed to work. Once again, Draco scowled at the noise.

"DRACO MALFOY YOU GET YOUR PALE LITTLE ARSE OVER TO ITALY THIS VERY MOMENT OR WE WILL FIND YOU! Well, pack first. Then get over here. Thanks man."

The howler promptly tore itself to bits and lay in ashes on his bed.

Draco sighed, finished dressing and used his usual morning spells to keep his hair in check. He left it a bit tussled, it had become his normal look.

The 'courting' process, which really wasn't any different from dating Draco was glad to find out, had already begun. And the thought of going to Italy and being so far away from Gabrielle actually pulled on his heart-strings.

Draco growled to himself. He didn't even know he had heart-strings. And who was she to pull on them?

But they did need for him to be there, he knew that much. And a Slytherin was always loyal to his friends. There was one solution. And he wasn't exactly sure about it. He barely knew the girl. Would he want to be living with her, for a little less than a month, when he barely knew her?

A knock sounded from his bedroom door. Narcissa entered without bothering for a response, Kinky at her heels.

"Well son? To Italy then?" She sat down on a hand carved renaissance period chair with a red velvet seat. "I could hear most of the howler from the morning veranda. And I assume you plan on taking Gabrielle with you?"

Draco nodded, flicking his wand to retrieve his trunk, it flew out from the pair of pants he had worn the day before, still in its shrunken size. He enlarged and quickly emptied it, this time taking much more care in his packing.

"I've taken the liberty of calling your work. They aren't sure how exactly they will cope without you, but agree that you need to get a life. Your boss seems to think that you're a bit of a workaholic." Draco fervently disagreed but his mother continued, "I told him about what you are going through, and he's given you a month off for your friends, and to get to know your mate. And he's planning to give you more time off once you get to planning your own wedding."

Draco paled.

"Mother!!" He moaned, "Have you no concept of keeping personal and business life separate? My BOSS didn't need to know these things!"

"No need to shout dear." She glanced over to Kinky who was carefully cleaning off the ashes from Draco's bed. The elf seemed to be talking to itself, in a whispered voice it said something along the lines of, "Kinky loves cleaning the mess off Master Draco's bed..."

Narcissa, somewhat startled, turned back to Draco.

"I say, after you're packed and ready to go, we apparate over to the Delacour's, and I'll talk with Camille and I'm sure she'll be happy to have the two of you get a bit more acquainted. Then the two of you can be off to Italy."

Narcissa sighed. It couldn't have been more romantic in her mind.

Her son wasn't a romantic.

Narcissa helped with a few more things before they were packed and ready to go.

Then Draco had a sudden insight. His mother had gone downstairs briefly, almost giddy, and he had thought of his father. She hadn't been this happy since Lucius was here.

And Lucius needed to hear what was going on. He wrote a somewhat lengthy letter, cast a simple revision spell, and tied it off. As he did so, Knap landed easily on his shoulder and took the parchment from him.

Draco eyed the bird. Something was wrong with it. It never acted this way. It was actually living up to its breeding standards.

How odd.

He walked out onto his veranda and watched the bird soar away just as his mother called him from downstairs.

"WILL YOU STOP PRIMPING AND GET DOWN HERE, WE NEED TO GET GOING OR PANSY WILL HAVE YOUR HEAD!" 'Gee, thanks mom.'

"I AM NOT PRIMPING!"

He waved his wand over his trunk, concurrently casting lightening and shrinking charms on it, picked it up, and headed down to meet his mother.

She wasn't by the main entrance. Draco glanced around. How dare she call him down and not be ready herself?

Kinky burst from a room, and beckoned to him. Draco followed, only to find his mother crying.

"D-Draco?" She sniffled and then seemed to get herself together. "This was the first engagement ring your father gave to me. I want you to have it. And don't feel obliged to give it to Gabrielle. I want you to marry who you love. Not who fate chooses for you. But I hope that they are one in the same."

Draco took the small but elaborate black velvet box from his mother, it had beautiful designs in what seemed to be real gold. Suddenly he wrapped his arms around her. She sobbed into his shoulder once, and then hugged him tightly before pulling back.

"Now lets go." She spelled her face dry, and with another wave of her wand was as good as new.

The two marched out the two story oak front door, and headed out into the winding path that ended at the gate.

Draco smirked at the albino peacock. It was his father's. Its name was Penna, the latin word for feather, Draco easily translated. Draco had to suppress his giggles at the thought of his father naming the creature. They walked straight through the smoke gates and in unison, disapparated.

-~***~-

This was the first time Draco had seen the outside of the Delacour mansion. It seemed so... small. And anti-extravagant. Especially considering what he had seen inside.

His mother had regretted apparating there. It was very long distance, and would have been much more comfortable by floo, despite the smoke and ash. They both made it in one piece, and headed straight up to the door. It was nearing seven o-clock in the morning.

Camille greeted them and ushered them inside for some coffee. Draco declined. He was much more interested in the line of photos he found along the wall in the sitting room. There were of two little blondes, running, playing, feeding some ducks, on broomsticks, at a ball making faces at the camera (which looked very out of place, Draco would like to add); he continued looking through the pictures while the mothers talked.

He wondered absently where Gabrielle was, and upon concentrating on her, found a blissful yellow, swirling in a languid circle like a dream.

And Draco knew that she was asleep. How he knew this, he didn't know. He still had no idea what he had gotten into. Damn genes.

He walked back to the couches, and leaned against one, taking advantage of a pause in the conversation.

"Gabrielle is still asleep? We really must be taking off soon." Camille nodded in acknowledgement.

"Third door to the left, to the right corridor off this room. She gestured with her hand, before resuming the conversation with his mother.

Draco paled. Only slightly. He didn't have much experience in waking others up. Well, girls anyway. To wake a boy up, in the Slytherin dorms, it was common practice to summon a bucket of water, or to jump onto the bed. Or the hilarious, 'levi-corpus' spell.

He walked slowly out of the room, and didn't miss Narcissa's evil grin.

Damn his mother.

He never woke his mother up. She was a light sleeper, and growing up with death-eaters did her no good. He had been cursed brutally before, and didn't want to repeat the experience.

And he had also been cursed by his dorm mates for waking them up.

Draco stood outside of her door.

He had already woken her up once though, hadn't he? But he kind of had a right to. She was laying on a merlin forsaken bench in the middle of diagon alley.

She was certainly a loony. That insight didn't help Draco at all as he reached out for the handle of her door.

And was shocked. Hard. Draco let out a breathy laugh.

'She wards her door at night? What a strange girl.'

He muttered the counter under his breath, and to be safe, performed a few more general ward neutralizing spells. Then opened the door.

It was very french. The windows were wide open and a cool breeze fluttered the curtains. Her bed was simple, painted white, and with white silk sheets. Draco looked around to discover that everything was white.

'How the hell is she so clean!?'

The sheets were tangled around her legs, her blonde hair lay softly against the pillow.

Draco stayed at the door. She looked so peaceful. Couldn't Pansy wait?

'No, Pansy can not wait, and if I don't show up there soon, she'll come after me.'

Draco knocked on the door frame. She didn't stir.

But he did not want to venture into her room without permission. With a sudden insight, he hummed the tune he so easily associated with her.

Her eyes fluttered open, and she sat bolt upright in her bed, Draco barely had time to move back out into the hall before the door slammed on his face.

He could here some mild french cussing from behind the door. Something about him being a disrespectful spying bad-mannered peeping tom. Somehow in English all of the colorful language was lost. He sighed and knocked on the door, and then spoke in somewhat fluent french.

"I am sorry to have intruded on you, but I need to talk to you urgently."

-~***~-

That low-life! Oh, he needed to talk to her? Why wouldn't he ask her mother to wake her up?!

Realization hit her. Her scheming mother. Damn her mother. She supposed he had to be forgiven. He wasn't even entirely in her room. Though he had broken through the wards.

She humphed. Quickly she got dressed while her mate continued to plead for her presence outside of the door.

"Oh, be patient." That shut him up. She finished dressing, a somewhat fancy white lace sundress, tied with a ribbon below her besom. She spelled her hair up, into a twisted bun at the nape of her neck.

Summoning two small white flowers from the garden outside her window, she tied them expertly into a few braids that she wound around the messy bun. A few strands of blonde hair were left to frame her face. With a wave of her wand, her morning complexion was gone, replaced with a clean glow. Another wave, and her natural looking designer make-up was back in place. She had paid a fortune for that spell. A professional would do the make-up perfectly on you, and then create a spell to replicate it. Then every morning, there was no fussing about with facial products. It was brilliance. If not a fortune.

Now ready to start her day, she slipped on some white heels and opened the door.

-~***~-

He hadn't expected her to be done so quickly. Pansy took forever to get ready in the mornings. But perhaps his mate was beautiful naturally.

He smirked at the thought, but then the door opened fully, and he realized how true it was.

There were flowers in her pretty blonde hair, she was wearing a pretty dress that seemed to emphasize her astonishingly small waist, and her green eyes looked bright.

And were glaring lightly at him. He smiled at her anyway.

Then stepped past her into her room.

Her eyes widened. 'She conveys all emotion through them doesn't she? Windows to the soul indeed.'

He sat down on the white leather couch just inside the room, and she sat across from him, on a matching chair.

The next ten minutes were spent explaining that they were going to Italy to help with his best friend's wedding.

He was surprised at how hesitant she was to go. When he asked, she told him that she was preparing to start a career.

"What?"

"I plan to be a healer. Of course, that can wait for a little while. I only just graduated."

Draco was intrigued. A healer? Didn't that require more school? And training at the hospital? Would she work at Mungo's? Or was there a wizarding hospital in France she aspired to? And what about being his housewife? Was he going to be the house-husband? Was that even possible? 'I will not give up my job!' Could they both have careers? They would certainly be a powerful couple. But who was going to be the house-husband?

He mulled it over in his mind. He certainly liked the idea of having an independent wife. Well. Kind of. Not independent from him though. 'We'll continue this conversation later.'

"I would be happy to help in whatever your future plans are. As long as they include going to Italy within the next five minutes."

A/N:

First, I changed my username to Quirkyfire. Don't be alarmed. Back when I first started using fanfiction I was young and thought Sweete Mist was cool. For all my emails and everything its quirkyfire, so it just seemed right to change it.

Second, I recently found out that the girl Draco marries is named Astoria Greengrass, and that she is the younger sister of Daphne Greengrass. I called that. I totally called that. I have another DracoXOC story (please read it! Somehow, no one has even looked at it because I posted it strangely or something, you can find it on my author page) And its about Draco, and Daphne Greengrass's younger sister. And I wrote it WAAAY before I found out about that. And her name is Vanessa in my story, not Astoria, but I was wicked close. I felt creeped out when I found out about it.

Third, I updated quicker! Did you notice? Probably not, but it was because I got some reviews! Yay! And thank you so much, you're the acid for my writer's block. Please review again! Not much happened really in this chapter, I'm sorry for that, it was mostly thoughts, but believe me, next chapter will be very different. They are going to ITALY!

And you know what Italy is known for?

wine.

nuff said.

Love you all,

Q


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